I got to hockey practice early. While the juniors were on the ice, I tried taking a nap. 2 minutes in, I head the coach yelling at me from the ice to wake up.
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Good morning! 
It’s Tuesday, 16 March 2021
(W11/D75/290 rem)
Today is: 
Panda Day 
Pandas are some of the most unique and beloved creatures on the planet. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in the world who didn’t know what a panda bear looked like.
Unfortunately, much of the panda’s popularity is due to the fact that they are one of the world’s most endangered animals. It is for these reasons and more that we celebrate these amazing animals every March 16.
National Panda Day is dedicated to the appreciation and continued conservation of these beautiful bears. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness about the plight of the estimated 1,800-1,900 pandas still living in the wild, and the 400-odd pandas in captivity.
These bears are native to the mountains of southwest China, where they subsist almost entirely on bamboo. It’s this combination of specialized diet and relatively small ranging areas that makes them so vulnerable. Loss of habitat is the biggest threat to the current panda population, though hunting and poaching are also contributors.
You can celebrate National Panda Day by sharing your love of pandas with the world. You could dress in panda black and white, bake panda-themed snacks, and spread the word across social media by using the hashtag #NationalPandaDay. You could also donate to local wildlife sanctuaries or conservation organizations.
Donations help to fund initiatives that protect the panda’s natural habitat and breeding programs that might bring them back from the brink of extinction. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) uses its donations towards a number of panda conservation projects in China, including nature preserve protection, which stops deforestation and hunting near protected panda habitats.
Have a terrific Tuesday! 
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I know we all find their tumbles and bumbles amusing, but do we really need to call them odd?
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Probably shouldn’t sleep on the ice, then.
Silly Canadians.
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I was on the stands, but I have been known to have a good lay down on top of a mound of snow in my time 
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It is Wednesday, 17 March 2021 my dudes 
(W11/D76/289 rem)
Today is: Saint Patrick’s Day 
Faith and begorrah! It’s St. Paddy’s Day! Éire go Brách!
Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
The day is also known as the Feast of Saint Patrick, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Patrick’s Day, St. Paddy’s Day, or just plain Paddy’s Day.
Some, most notably North American Irish wannabes, call it Patty’s Day. But that’s because they’re ignorant and dumb.
“Paddy” is, and always has been, the accepted Irish nickname for anyone named Patrick, and an accepted colloquialism for Irish people in general. Calling it Patty’s Day is just wrong. No self respecting Irish person would ever call it that. Don’t you go do it.
So who exactly was this St. Patrick anyway, and why does he deserve an all things green and all things Irish celebration?
His life was pretty eventful. He was born in Great Britain in the 5th century and then kidnapped as a child and enslaved by Irish raiders. He escaped back to his home country after six years.
Later, as an adult, he dreamed that a group of Irishmen were calling him back to their land. Believing he’d received a message from God, he returned to Ireland as a one-man missionary, spreading word of the Christian faith across the pagan island and baptizing people left and right.
Legends surround his stay there. He’s best known for having driven all the snakes out of Ireland (which is probably a metaphor for driving out the druids). He’s also said to have raised 33 people from the dead, some of whom had been buried for years.
He’s even said to have placed a curse on an Irish clan who didn’t take kindly to his promotion of a new deity. Their spirit animal was a wolf, and they howled at Patrick when he came close. Patrick retaliated. The legends say he put a curse on them that turned one couple, every seven years, into wolves—wolves that spoke like humans and craved human flesh. You could say he turned them into werewolves.
On a more peaceful note, St. Patrick is also supposed to have illustrated the Holy Trinity of Christianity by using a shamrock, showing its three leaves growing from a single stem. Partly due to this legend, shamrocks have become the national flower of Ireland, and are symbolic of all things Irish, especially St. Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by those of Irish descent and increasingly by people of other ethnicities as well, notably in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and North America.
Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the colour green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink and attending parades, which have a particularly long history in the United States and in Canada.
Have a wonderous Wednesday! Sláinte!
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Perfect day for it!
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My patron saint, I will celebrate with a beer and Boondock Saints tonight!
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Told ya 
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It is Thursday, 18 March 2021
(W11/D77/288 rem)
Today is: Awkward Moments Day
Have you ever called someone by the wrong name, tripped over nothing, walked into a door, had the completely wrong words come out of your mouth or just forgot what you were doing?
The list could go on and on. Sometimes, things just do not seem to go right and something happens that may make you feel like you want to run and hide. No matter the day, today or any other day, everyone has them.
Awkward Moments Day is an annual day that everyone can relate to. We have all had our awkward moments from time to time. They are a part of life, they just happen.
Awkward moments happen all the time, and to some folks more than others! For anyone who’s ever wished the ground would open up and swallow them, Awkward Moments Day is a celebration of all awkward moments. From walking out of a public toilet with loo roll on a shoe, to realising you’ve been speaking to someone everyday for a year, and don’t know their name, life is full of these moments.
Find the ability to laugh at yourself, see the humour in your awkward moments and have fun with them. Relive old awkward moments by telling stories about them. Laugh over them and enjoy the memory. They may be embarrassing at first. However, as time goes by, the humour in these moments reveal just how human we can be.
After all, don’t we all start out somewhere? We learn something new or misunderstand someone’s meaning. No one is perfect, ever. And it’s important to keep that in mind on this day and take a little humility with us as we celebrate it.
Share an awkward moment with us here - it’s cathartic. And we’ll be laughing with you, not at you - remember, we’ve all had them.
Have a top notch Thursday!
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Went in for a work experience placement interview in college. Got the position. Went back, and when the HR guy said, “Good to see you again” or something, instead of saying “Good to see you too”, it came out, “Good for you”.
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Why am I the only one posting?
Awkwaaaard
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An awkward moment…
So I was busy in the kitchen the one day and I needed to fart, needless to say it was a shart which then led to me having to run to the loo and leave a nice little dirty trail on the way there.
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Any grown man who claims they’ve never shat themselves are lying.
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Word of caution - any awkward moment that happens in front of family will never, ever be forgotten and you will constantly be reminded of that one time…
My sister won’t let me forget the time that I misspelt my name when I was ordering a pizza over the phone - henceforth she often calls me “Garham” instead of “Graham”
Now my revenge - I won’t let my sister forget the time I witnessed her answer the home phone by saying grace - “For what we’re about to receive…” instead of, I dunno, Hello? 
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It is Friday, 19 March 2021
(W11/D78/287 rem)
Today is: 
World Sleep Day 
It seems like we’ve just celebrated Nap Day, and here we are, observing it’s big brother - World Sleep Day - and again highlighting the importance of getting enough good quality sleep.
World Sleep Day is an annual event intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including health and medicine, education, social aspects and driving.
It is organised by the World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society and aims to lessen the burden of sleep problems on society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders. World Sleep Day is held the Friday before the (Northern hemisphere) Spring Vernal Equinox.
Personally, I’ve been struggling with sleep for a long time, and don’t get nearly enough of it. It’s been compounded over the last few days by all the irritating load shedding nonsense. My sleep tracker app tells me that my average time asleep in the last week is under 4 hours. 
And I know I’m not alone as the recent conversation in Thread Killer suggests.
When you consider that even 6 hours a night is not enough, it’s clear that many of us, myself especially, could benefit from a greater understanding of sleep, it’s importance, and how we can develop better sleep habits.
That is pretty much the entire aim of World Sleep Day .
Sleep may seem like such a normal aspect of life that it might seem silly to even talk about it! It can be one of the most banal, underrated aspects of people’s lives. But for those who have recurring sleep problems, getting enough sleep can be a real challenge and affect everything else in life.
World Sleep Day aims to consider and aid those who have sleep problems. It is useful for educating people all over the world about the importance of sleep, as well as changing the way people view and experience sleep by giving them valuable resources to help them in their daily lives.
Hosted since 2008, World Sleep Day is a global awareness act that celebrates sleep and aims to help those with serious sleep problems. Celebrated on the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year, this holiday has an annual 155 events held across the world and is participated by over 70 countries.
World Sleep Day focuses on various issues related to sleep, sleep medicine, education about sleep, and the social effects that sleep deprivation can have on everyday life. From mild to severe, sleep difficulties are a modern problem that may have the ability to hijack people’s entire lives if not kept in check.
According to the American Sleep Association, over 50 to 70 million people have some type of sleeping disorder, over 25 million have sleep apnea, and the most commonly reported sleep problem is insomnia (the inability to sleep at all or for a full night).
So what can you do to improve your sleep? Develop a good sleep hygiene routine habit and stick to it.
Because children so naturally fall asleep when they are tired, adults may simply assume they should be able to do the same thing. But they often cannot! Just like taking care of the physical body (by showering or brushing the teeth), a person’s sleep routine may need a little bit of extra attention and care.
The process of sleep hygiene allows the brain and body to quiet themselves and prepare for a good night of sleep. This includes healthy habits and relaxation routines such as:
- Fixed bedtime and wake time: the circadian rhythms of the body work better when bedtime and wake time is the same each day.
- Exercise: people who don’t have enough physical activity during the day may struggle to sleep at night, so be sure to take a brisk walk or practice other cardio several hours before bedtime.
- Cut back on caffeine: as a stimulant, caffeine can make the mind and body active, so it’s best to avoid coffee, tea or other caffeinated beverages at least 6 hour prior to bedtime.
- Room temperature: keep the bedroom between 16°C - 20°C.
- Give yourself 30 minutes for your bedtime routine: instead of expecting to fall asleep right away, calculate half an hour to wind down with soft music, light stretching or reading a boring book.
- Dim the lights: tell the brain it’s time to sleep by lowering the lights.
- Unplug: At least 60 minutes prior to bedtime, turn off the computer, television, smartphone or other devices as the blue lights can interfere with good sleep rhythms.
- Practice meditation: deep breathing and mindfulness practices before bed can help the brain to release the stress of the day which sets the stage for better sleep.
For more information on World Sleep Day , it’s aims and tools available to help you sleep better, visit https://worldsleepday.org
So, you have permission to get back into bed, to go back to sleep, and to have a restful Friday!
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Aw yeah, having a glorious morning afterwards!
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